The University Grants Commission (UGC) has brought out an elaborate sets of rules to put an end to “coercive and profiteering” practices by educational institutes regarding verification of certificates during admission, and remittance of fees and refunds.
Attested copies
As per the new rules notified by the UGC, no higher education institute can insist upon a student to submit the original academic, personal certificates and testimonials like marksheets, school leaving certificates and other such documents while submitting the admission form.
The institutes can physically verify the original documents at the time of admission and return those immediately, though they can keep attested copies, the new norms add.
The institutes can charge fee in advance only for the semester or year in which a student is to engage in academic activities.
“Collecting advance fee for the entire programme of study or for more than one semester or year in which a student is enrolled is strictly prohibited as it restricts the student from exercising other options of enrolment elsewhere,” the norms say.
Withdrawal
If a student chooses to withdraw from the programme of study, the institute will have to follow a four-tier system for refund of fees remitted by the student. If the withdrawal notice is served 15 days before the formally-notified last date of admission, not more than 10 per cent of the aggregate fees as processing charges from the refundable amount can be deducted.
As per the new norms, as the day for admission nears or passes, when the notice of withdrawal of admission is served to the education institute, the amount that can be deducted from the refundable deposit will also increase. — PTI
